Bitter American is an “extra pale ale with bold malt and hop flavors” according to the can. The ABV is a surprising 4.4%, in that awesome range that, if tasty enough, will give you a beer you can drink a few of without its contributing too much to social blunders. That’s the idea with a “session ale” anyway: give us something we can spend an evening with, that has character but doesn’t lay us out. Session ales are great gateways for people hooked on adjunct macro brews like Budweiser and Miller.

My can of Bitter American, with love from the bay, pours a nice clear copper color into my imperial pint glass. I pour it straight into the bottom of the glass, albeit slowly, so that a nice head can develop. People like to pour their beer differently, but the experts (brewers et al) all prefer this method because a well-developed head means bursting aroma. And the “nose” of a beer is critical to its enjoyment. After the first sip, I’m hooked. How can this beer be so low in alcohol and also so deep in taste? Fresh, juicy hops at the start of the sip, toasty malts in the middle, and a nice crisp bitterness at the finish. The hops used in this beer are Warrior (most often used as a bittering hop) and the all-American Cascade (often used at the very end of the boil to add aroma to a beer). The malts are Simpson’s Golden Promise (which is typically grown in Scotland), 2-Row Pale, Munich and Crystal. Honestly the malts play a pretty distant second chair in this beer, but hey … how else are they going to get those ABVs down? My thoughts exactly.

Bitter American is a wonderful “session” ale with lots of bitterness, and not too much sweet. But it’s not lopsidedly bitter. Combined with it’s maker’s namesake, awesome packaging, I would say this is a beer I will really miss having (since they don’t distribute here in Chicago!) around the house. So, 21st, if you’re listening … come to Illinois! You’ve got fans!

The smell was out right fantastic.  Super roasty, coffee, and astringent burnt grains.  It had a very Dry Stout aroma that lead into a faint oatmeal grain bag quality (which I love).  The oats give off a Founders Breakfast Stout-like character that blended perfectly with the roasted grains.  The hops lent a subtle kick in the form of a piney, pungent character.

The taste was rather full bodied.  Here is where the “double” aspect come into affect.  Smooth, chocolaty, creamy, coffee, and astringent would be the first words out of my mouth.  Interestingly there was a mild sweetness (similar to a milk stout) that seems to coat the palate.  It did so in a soft way with the help of the oats.  There is where the beer has that great oatmeal stout quality.  The astringent grains and robust flavor reminded me more of a black lager or ale.  The slight hop bite combined with the burnt malt in a very pleasing way.  A rich coffee finish was like that of a good porter.  The finish is very complex with roasted grain, sweetness, oats, and hops.  A multi-layered brew indeed.  This was a great beer and very drinkable considering the higher abv.  Went down like a sessionable Dry Stout.

True to style, the rocky head rose quickly causing me to slow down my approach yet still maintain a steady pour.  It is important when pouring gueuze to not be overly aggressive when pouring.  I put my thumb in the indentation at the bottom and rest the glass on my four fingers while pouring.  This allows me to keep an eye on the sediment while at the same time maintaining a continuous pour.  This produces a clean glass full of bubbly gueuze.

The beer is effervescent like so many others in this style.  I did notice the smell is more straw, hay, barnyard-like than sour or tart.  Don’t get me wrong, it definitely has that great funky tart nose, but the earthy grain/wheat qualities really come through well in this beer.  Very Wit-like in approach, the aroma has hints of lemon and vinegar that enhance the tartness.  Basically, it is not the most sour gueuze with regards to smell.

However, the taste is right on.  Tart up front and at the finish.  The mouthfeel was light and reminded me of a Witbier.  Refreshing and not too aggressive, this might be a good one to try if you are exploring the style.  I was not blasted by a puckering sourness, but found the lemon, lemon grass, hay and straw flavors to be soothing like a glass of lemonade.  It is a great thirst quencher and can be used as an aperitif quite well.

I poured a little more weak than most gueuze.  That might be been due to some extended refrigeration, but for the most part the head did quickly rise.  With a more aggressive pour I was able to produce a rocky off-white head that stuck around for a few minutes.  The beer itself was much more clear and there was very little sediment at the bottom leading me to believe it was moderately filtered (I could be wrong).  Overall, pretty standard looking.

The nose displayed a much more funky spicy quality than others.  It had the classic barnyard/hay smell along with a sour tingle, but it was more than just that.  It was tangy and spicy like a grapefruit and pepper.  It stung the nose a little and had more of a punch/kick/pop than most gueuze.

Progressing to the taste, I found it to be very simple in the mouthfeel.  Clean, crisp and lighter than unfiltered variation, it allowed me to focus on the lemon, citrus characters as well as what seemed like a stronger hop quality.  Not so much herbal, but spicy.  The front of the palate received that tangy/spicy smack which quickly moved to a sour citrus character mid-sip.  The finish was super dry and zesty.  This is the spiciest gueuze I’ve had to date.  The flavors really stand out.  I’d say, Oud Beersel makes a geuze that is good for exploring those higher/complex flavors found in the style rather than just being a refreshingly sour beer.  If anything, it is at least the most hoppy that I’ve tried.

That said, the color of this beer is a wonderfully clear bronze-copper with an unusually dense white head for a lambic. A very appealing presentation I must  say. There is plenty of Brussels lace as I sipped this enjoyable glass. The nose is very interesting. Hidden beneath a sweeter caramel-like aroma the classic funky barnyard lambic qualities come through. Some tartness is noticeable, but for the most part the smell is pretty well balanced creating an almost smooth English pale ale (minus the hops) nose. It is not overtly sweet and the lambic characteristics retain an hay-like earthiness.

When I came to the taste, it was hard to get use to at first. The initial sip resulted in a shocking sweetness with minor flavors of funky lambic. A few sips later my palate adjusted and became to recognize more of those barnyard/horse blanket notes. However, the sweetness of the sugar did overpower the taste buds. I can understand the point of lessening the strong acidic punch of some lambic, but isn’t that how they are meant to be enjoyed? In my opinion, I think Lindemans could have gone a little lighter on the sugar … just a tad. When the beer rolls to the back of the palate I was able to get a break down of the candi sugar used in Dubbels and Quads. It was a light sugary mouthfeel, but a slightly stickier nonetheless. An interesting brew that has a cool history and worth a shot.

Looking a little deeper into the world of Cognac I found some interesting facts. Cognac is a type of Brandy made in a specific region of France (think Bourbon or Champagne). Brandy is distilled wine. However, within the world of Brandy you can have various versions made from different fruits. This beer was aged in Calvados barrels. Calvados is an apple Brandy distilled from dry cider an aged in oak. Keep that in mind while I progress.

The beer itself had a very dark mocha head just like the previous Weasel brew. It did seem a little more rocky (bigger bubbles) and did not last as long. The color was raven black. No light was about to get through. The aroma had a very similar coffee, bitter burnt grain appeal to it, but there was a fruity addition to the nose. While coming across with some heat the dry woody notes lifted a gentle apple-like scent from the glass. When I first took a whiff, I asked myself, “is there a hint of fruity lambic in here?” What I was smelling was the apple quality imparted by the apple brandy which recalled my experience sampling Lindeman’s Pomme. The rest of the aroma was caramel, dark roasted malts, and molasses.

Diving into the taste this beer packs a punch. All together the malts, coffee, alcohol, and oak strip your palate of any moisture. It is highly bitter from the astringency of the burnt malt and coffee. Then the Calvados barrel takes over with a deep wood sugar/caramel fruitiness that only lasts a few seconds before the abv and oak bring a dry finish. You can taste a little hint of apple mid-sip and in the aftertaste, but for the most part the alcohol seemed to have boosted the coffee and malts to a new level. The mouthfeel is thicker, but not as smooth as the original Weasel was. I enjoyed that one better due to the fact that I could enjoy the coffee flavors more rather than get a wallop of alcohol.

Served in a small 8.5 oz bottle you definitely do not get your money’s worth in liquid.  I might recommend laying this down for about 6 months to a year just to help round out that alcoholic heat and allow the beer to soften. Grade: B-

Taylor: I had to buy this barrel aged Mikkeller stout. A few years ago, my wife and I were driving around in Normandy and stopped at a beautiful orchard off the beaten path. We bought a bottle of the region’s famous apple brandy/cognac … Calvados. When I saw that this beer is aged in Calvados barrels, I was sold. Calvados is such a great type of cognac, bursting with apple. I was really happy with the end product. It pours thick, viscous black with a very slim head. The nose is full of cocoa and coffee, but has a definitie apple smell to it that is so refreshing. The taste and mouthfeel deliver the great cocoa/coffee bitterness. But there’s this “juicy” element to the taste that brings out the barrel aging. I drank it over an hour, and the booze and sweetness really come forward as it warms. And the carbonation recedes.

I think it’s also important to highlight the coffee the beer is brewed with: Vietnamese ca phe chon coffee. It’s one of the world’s most expensive coffees, made from civet cat droppings. This is a weasel-like animal that only eats the best and ripest coffee berries. Enzymes in their digestive system break down the bean, and workers collect the bean-containing droppings for Civet or Weasel Coffee. The exceedingly rare Civet Coffee has a strong taste and an even stronger aroma (adapted from Mikkeller’s description).

The only thing I really didn’t like about the beer was the price. $15.99 for a tiny 8.5oz bottle? That’s a little steep. Grade: A-

Pouring this beer into the snifter produced a very light golden color beer with a delightful creamy white head.  It was dense and looked a little like whip cream.  Playing to my love for lighter malted IPAs I knew this was going to be a winner.

The nose was intense and all hops.  Floral, honeyed, pungent, citrus, resinous and fruity.  There were some earthy piney notes that seemed to be carried by the abv heat, but the aromas were mostly dank and tropical.  Pineapple, mango, apricot, orange and a light herbal spice wafted up from the glass.  There was a minor sweetness from the malt.  For the most part this smelled a lot like 3 Floyds Dreadnaught or Arctic Panzer Wolf.

Wow!  The flavor was outstanding.  Crisp, dry, and highly resinous.  The lighter malts offered some quickly passing relief from the hop assault that took place in on my palate.  Carried by a honey-like sweetness this beer reminded me a little of Bells Hopslam in a lot of ways.  From front to back, Hop Burn ignited my palate with multiple rounds of pungent sticky hops.  While these hops stuck around in the aftertaste, the finish was dry as previously mentioned.  If you are a hop lover and come across this on your shelf buy it.  I promise you will not be disappointed.

Appearance is one of the highlights.  A golden-copper hue is capped by a dense off-white head that laces like no ones business.  Be careful to decant this 11.2 oz bottle.  I’ve found that I only got about 10 clean ounces before the sediment starts to pour out (which is chunky).  When pouring, you will notice a powerful pleasant aroma that wafts up to greet your nose.  The floral, herbal, pungent and resinous hops overpower the aroma.  I’ve heard that they use American Simcoe and Cascade and dry-hop this beer so the nose is alive with hops.  The yeast profile is not as spicy as a Tripel, but rather heavier and mellow.  It allows for the hops to shine while at the same time contributing a banana-like aroma.

It took a few sips to taste anything else other than the hops.  However, the interplay between the hops and yeast was intricately complex and intertwined.  I’ve often found that with US variations of a Belgian IPA you can easily distinguish the hops and then later isolate the yeast.  Here, both work together and are supported by a moderate malt bill which leaves a toffee rich aftertaste.  Almost like a flash in the pan, the hops give off a dry, palate coating bitterness and then vanish.  This effect beckons another sip that starts the cycle over again.  I really enjoyed this beer and think it out did my expectations.  If you like Belgian strong ales and hoppy beers you might want to put down the Stone, Green Flash, or New Belgium and grab Magma instead.

Popping the cage and cork released a barrage of sour super funky aromas.  Highly acidic.  It is a pretty clear beer with a moderate head that looked to be a tad more dense then most gueuze.  A slight film of bubbles lasted the entire glass providing some life to the aroma and mouthfeel.  Wow!  This might be the most sour gueuze I’ve sampled.  The aroma alone almost made me pucker.  Very fruity indeed, but the hay-like aromas were eclipsed by a sharp Lysol like lemon quality that seemed to even take a backseat to all the sourness going on.

Pucking.  Each sip brought with it a palate wrecking Warhead-like punch that I could not get use to.  My cheeks and far-back sides of my tongue took the hardest hit.  Hanssens sure must have some funky yeast and old wooden barrels.  Somewhat earthy there is a dry oaky texture and flavor that creates a drying effect on the palate.  This served to direct me right back to my drink to quench my palate only to get hit with a sour bomb.  There is also a rather medicinal flavor that I think sets it apart from other gueuze.  At the end of the day, I think this one is not as easy sipping or as refreshing due to the intense acidity.

Poured into my standard chalice, it produced a moderately dense foamy head that was beige in color.  This rested atop a rich mahogany beer that bubbled just enough to keep a film over the beer.  The aroma was almost too complex for just a Dubbel.  Big licorice notes wafted from the glass.  Deep candied aromas gave off hints of dark fruits mixed with chocolate.  A spicy yeast profile was also evident added notes of black currants and helped to mask the abv with a bready quality.

Surprisingly drinkable.  I was expecting a light mouthfeel and an abv heat, but instead it was rather silky and smooth.  The earthiness of the licorice adds a great touch to this brew as it counters the candy sugar character.  It is sweet up front however there are enough dark grain flavors to help carry and evolve that sweetness as you drink.  With an ever-so-slight dryness on the finish, it leaves you with hints of plum, dates, cherries and chocolate.  Overall, I’d say this beer won me over.  Yes, it might be an middle of the road Dubbel to some, but given the flavors and complexity it could stand up to the Trappists quiet easily.